Michalek Ranks 5th Among North American Goalies, Plans On Playing At Harvard Next Winter

That's what his idol and future Los Angeles Kings goalie Jon Quick would wear as he pelted Michalek with pucks from all over the ice at Jennings Fairchild Rink at Avon Old Farms.

As for the shots that came off the stick of Quick's left-handed blade, those he tried to forget.

"I mean I was 10-years-old — so any 18-year-old's shot is a pretty good shot," Michalek said.

Those days — as perfectly clear as they may be in both Michalek's mind — are long gone. He hasn't talked to Quick in close to eight years. And the last time Michalek saw his old practice partner, it was on TV during the NHL playoffs.

But soon, that old rivalry could be reignited. At least, that's the hope of hockey fans across the state.

Michalek, 17, is expected to be taken between the second and seventh rounds and be one of the first New England-born players drafted Saturday in the NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul, Minnesota. The 6-feet-2, 183-pound goalie from Glastonbury, who will watch the draft at home with his family and a few friends, is rated fifth among North American goalies on Central Scouting's final ratings of draft prospects. The recently graduated Loomis Chaffee goalie is the only northern Connecticut born player in the ratings.

As exciting as the rankings are, Michalek won't be decking himself out Sunday morning in his future team's colors. Well, maybe just a hat. Instead, Michalek has just one color on his mind for the immediate future: crimson.

Come October, Michalek will be playing hockey for Harvard and competing with Raphael Girard for the starting goalie job. He's wanted to play hockey in Boston for a while, and he isn't set on leaving right away. Michalek, who finished with a .918 save percentage and made over 1,000 saves for Loomis Chaffee this past winter, chose Harvard over eight other schools, including Yale and several other ECAC programs.

"My dad and a good friend of mine would go up to the Beanpot three or four years in a row, and it was always a real dream of mind to play in the Garden," Michalek said.

The attention and stoplight have been eye-opening for Michalek. Playing for Central youth hockey, the Avon Panthers and then the Connecticut Lasers, Michalek never allowed himself to lose track of the goal in front of him.

"I've always tried to be really realistic about things and always set high goals but not expect good things to come to me," Michalek said. "Before you can start thinking about committing to a Division I team or say I want to play in the NHL, you have to think about being the best goalie in New England prep school hockey or I have to get a starting job in New England prep school hockey. You can't think two steps ahead."

His mother Marianne jokes that her son didn't know he was good until last week.

Still, his breakout moment would arrive. Last August, Michalek helped the U.S. National Under-18 select team finish second in the Ivan Hlinka Tournament in Rochester for its best finish since 2006. Michalek stopped 23 of 24 shots for U.S. in a 1-0 loss to Canada in the championship game. The lone goal Michalek gave up? It came against Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the Canadian center expected to go No. 1 to Edmonton in Friday's draft.

"All of a sudden in Rochester and going through the process with U.S.A hockey, it was like whoa…this kid is pretty darn good," Stephen's father Tracy Michalek said.